MYA believes that music participation is an essential element in the fabric of an enduring society. Out of the desire to inspire a deep love and knowledge of music with the Qatari community, MYA kickstarted a cultural development program to promote the transformative powers of music, the value of creativity through playing music, and an appreciation of cultural diversity. Team up with MYA and embrace the positive qualities of music: its ability to create community, to express a talent, and to heal.

Availability, accessibility and generosity are key and here’s where you will find MYA moving mountains.

MYA’s activities focus on getting people in Qatar in touch with good music. Invest in the future by joining MYA in creating a platform for supporting local talents in the pursuit of their artistic potential, especially those with special needs. Incorporating music into the lives and education of every generation, is the primary goal, whether it is by getting instruments into classrooms, providing free concerts to underprivileged children or nursing home patients, or auctioning top class concerts by star musicians for charity purposes. Warming, enriching, inspiring, magical: music seems to be the perfect match for a Qatar in motion. It’s our turn to give.

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Mission Statement

MYA is a non-profit foundation that reaches out to sponsors, partners, organisations, peers and volunteers in Qatar in order to create opportunities for music to be the motor for individual and collective change and exchange.

Board of Directors

The founding of MYA would not have been possible without the support of the Board who’s advise will guide the management in consistently pursuing the mission of MYA.
The Board also guards the ethical code of MYA in the campaigns and actions that are undertaken in the name of MYA’s mission in which music, community building purposes and social responsibility should always be the central values.

Management

“Everybody should be able to enjoy music. That’s our basic desire.”

Sonja Park (managing director of MYA) & Joris Laenen (artistic advisor of MYA),
founders of MYA:
“More than 5 years ago, music brought us to Qatar. Surely there is nothing more infecting for talent than the vibrant energy of a nation reinventing itself, trusting in culture as a stepstone for becoming the best it can be. We see and enjoy the riches of this wonderful nation and we want to give something in return.
When we count our blessings, we always count music twice. Music is indeed the guiding force in our lives and we believe it can be for others too, for anyone. In order to make that happen, we founded MYA, supported by a number of likeminded believers who wanted us to get into action.
Being professional musicians, we figured that wherever we go, we can make music happen. And also, wherever we make music happen, we can engage others to share our vision and involve them to join our cause: bringing music to the people who don’t have access to music, guiding and supporting young local talent, develop campaigns where art and culture are tools of expressing one’s self or connecting to the other.
We believe in the magic of music. We want you to be believe in the magic of MYA.”

Increase music opportunities for all.
As ambitious as this is, MYA knows the drill of bringing live music where you don’t expect it to happen. Our motto is: “If you can’t come to us, we’ll come to you.”
Everybody should be able to enjoy live music but let’s be real: not everybody has the chance to attend live concerts, whether the obstacles are money, health, culture, age, gender or whatever other threshold. With your help, MYA will be heard in Shafallah Centre, Al Noor Institute, old people’s home, hospitals, blind institute, etc. MYA is devoted to bringing great music everywhere.

Develop music education programs for our children.
Do you agree that education is more than learning the young ones to read and write? MYA strongly believes music is a vital aspect in each child’s complete education. Apart from raising awareness about the importance of music as part of our children’s cultural education, MYA endeavours to create a general interest in music, pointing out the educational benefits.
This will include playing concerts in schools, going to Souq Waqif, parks and museums. Remember our baseline: “If you can’t come to us, we’ll come to you.”

Find and support local musical talent
MYA will look for local talents to support them in their efforts and logistically. Talent scouting can happen in schools, through organising competitions, which will give young and or local talent also a platform to showcase their artistic potential. We will collaborate with Qatari musicians as role models for inspiration and motivation.

Cooperate with other charity organisations
MYA is a newcomer in an inspiring network of peer organizations with similar aspirations such as Qatar Charity, Red Crescent, Seeing is believing and many more. Joining forces is key to make music happen everywhere and for all.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO

Moving you… to get involved.

Donate?
Donations are the simplest way to help us bring the blessings of music to those who need it most. They may not be able to come to us, we can certainly go to them. Your donations help us to find and fund local talent – your musicians of the future. With your support we can make sure that music can make a difference in the lives of our children, bringing mutual cultural understanding and appreciation between generations to come. Our music-based campains focus on community building and bringing people together for and through experiencing live music.

Fundraise for us.
Proud of your network? We want to be too! You can help MYA to reach more people by fundraising for MYA with family and friends, colleagues and partners. Fundraising could be as easy as organising a coffee morning at your home or as glamorous as initiating a gala dinner.

Become a member of MYA’s corporate supporting network!
We value our network because it is only with a lot of backup from a influential corporate network that MYA can embed its activities in the society we are all part of.

Join our team!
We eagerly welcome volunteers to assist us in many different ways. Get your network involved and help us reach out to the community, by setting up charity or school concerts.

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MYA IN ACTION

Standard Chartered Bank“We have had the privilege of experiencing Sonja and Joris’ performances at one of our biggest fundraising galas. The impassioned music and overall involvement of this couple was one of the major reasons for the success of the event. MYA has originated from a desire to provide music and inspiration to a fledgling music community in Qatar and therefore has the potential to do great things. We are honoured and delighted to be a part of MYA in any way we can and are positive that MYA will be enthralling audiences young and old whist inspiring young people to engage more in music.”
Charles Carlson, Standard Chartered Bank, Doha

Steinway Piano Gallery Qatar“As Steinway Piano Gallery Qatar, representing Steinway & Sons in the Middle East region, manufacturing the World’s Finest Piano since 1853, we feel deeply connected to the evolvement of music in our part of the world. It is here where endless possibilities lay in front of us and where extra-ordinary people are capable of achieving extra-ordinary things. Young musical talent is representing and inspiring the new generation, paving the way of our cultural future. To seek, find and endorse young musical talent in our young society: It is here where we find the support of MYA being as crucial as the music itself. We wholeheartedly support all MYA’s future endeavours and hope others will feel inspired to do the same. A musical collaboration set in stone.”
Vincent Corver,Manager Steinway Piano Gallery Qatar, A CDC Company

Four Seasons“Four Seasons is committed to being a responsible and caring community partner by having a positive economic impact and supporting community goals, both within and outside the hotel. We engage in innovative training and mentoring programmes for young people, support those in need and celebrate the diverse cultures where Four Seasons operates. We are excited and welcome the opportunity to be involved with MYA’s future activities to further support the community’s needs through the passion of music. This is the beginning of an incredible journey of music and we look forward to extending our full support to MYA in this wonderful community initiative”.
Simon Casson, Four Seasons, General Manager/Regional Vice President